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I’ve been writing this blog in my head all day. But.... when I leave work, my brain tends to shut off. I don’t remember half of what I wanted to say.

I rant and rave about common sense and the lack thereof at work quite often. Mostly when I leave work, I can leave that kind of craziness behind me.

Yesterday afternoon I met a young man who had recently moved to town because the small town he is from has no job opportunities. I know that to be true because I work with a couple people from that town.

He was trying to convince me what a hard worker he is. And yet..... he had gotten a job cooking at the golf course... and quit the job. Not because the pay was bad, or the boss was awful. He quit because it was too far to walk to work.

I was mind boggled. Yes, when the wind chill is -25, three miles might be too far to walk to work. But... The town where I work has a great transit system. If you call 24 hrs ahead of time, a ride anywhere in town only costs $2.50. That’s $5 a day to get to work and back. I wish I could get to work for so little money!!!!!!! And a punch card for the week is only $20.

Am I missing something? How is being unemployed better than taking $20 out of your paycheck to get to work?

We have a deadbeat at work who is just as bad. He didn’t show up till noon one day. We asked him why. He couldn’t find a ride. Instead of calling the transit and spending the little bit of money on a ride, he missed out on 4 hours pay. Where is the sense in that?????????

Another kid couldn’t make it to work one day because “the weather is too bad.” He lives four miles out of town. Right near our secretary who made it to work. Thirty four miles closer to work than I live! And I made it to work. What is wrong with these people????

Member Comments

I hear ya! This frustrates me to no end!!!!! I hire people who tell me they want to work and can’t understand why I let them go when they either no show or are constantly late. Usually the excuse is my grandma is sick ( they have a lot of grandmas) or no ride. How is this MY problem?????

I usually explain after their first occurance that it’s an imposition on the others they work with when they are counting on everyone to do their part. Then I follow it up with this can not happen again.2nd occurance I remind them of our convo on the 1st occurance.

3rd occurance I don’t even let them walk all the way in. I just say good bye.

Oh, no Linda, it’s not just boys. I could write a book about the 25 yr old bimbo who worked with me for a few months. She was at least responsible enough to have a car, but she missed work several times because her cat was sick!!!!! Seriously!!!!????? I thought my 30 yr old boss was going to have a heart attack on the spot when I told him why she wasn’t at work.

Vikki, I wish my boss would get that tough. He’s very easy going and tends to let things slide, although it usually works out in the end. Those people tend to end up just leaving work and that way he doesn’t have to fire them.

I must be missing something because from what I see, not only with our son, his cousins, all their friends and the numerous young people all over the place here, everyone is working jobs (if they can land one), getting to work on time, working over-time, picking up the slack of many older people (they do have excuses also why they can’t be at work), taking public transportation or sharing rides with co-workers.

I admit there are lots of lazy people, but I truly see so many young people in my area working hard...my God, our local Whole Foods has employed 95% young people. Most of the fast food places, grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, small businesses, all employ young people and they are working. They may not have Big Daddy Bucks to live off of, so anything they can get, they hold on to. You should see how many young kids wash cars around here in the summer.

And on a separate lack of common sense note——- I went to the supermarket today to get a few boxes of Hamburger Helper for the old people I clean for. I end up with 5 boxes. The cashier (let’s say she’s 23) uses TWO bags to bag up five little 3oz boxes. Two boxes of hamburger helper in one bag and three boxes in the other.